Converged networks are now a reality — driven by the proliferation of IP-based networks from the network core to the customer premise. Simultaneously, there has been an explosion of subscriber traffic with multiple end nodes for voice, video, and data. At the customer premises, the access rates on the WAN link have gone from xDSL to xPON rates of 1 Gbps and higher. LAN networks have also followed similar trends with network speeds beyond GigE. Moreover, other high-speed LAN technologies such as 802.11x, MoCA are also popular. Add to this mix the emerging trend of FMC and the challenges to SoC and related software architecture for the home gateways that need to support these requirements become critical.

This session focuses on these challenges and the innovative approaches that are being applied to meet these challenges, highlighting critical issues such as guaranteed QoS for deployed services, rich media processing, OPEX reduction, and ever-demanding performance.

Preet Virk Vice President and General Manager, CPE Business Unit Mindspeed Technologies

Mr. Virk provides strategic direction for the group while handling P&L responsibilities and is responsible for business and product line strategy and product definition. Prior to this, Mr. Virk was the vice president of marketing for the MSA business unit at Mindspeed Technologies. Earlier, he had highly successful stints in marketing, applications, and engineering roles in both software and hardware arenas with Marker Communications (network processors) and EDA companies.

Ben Chan Director, Product Marketing Entropic Communications

Mr. Chan is responsible for c.LINK access product line. Previously, he was the director of marketing of Conexant WLAN (802.11x) business unit, responsible for wireless access point and gateway products. Mr. Chan also held both marketing and corporate development positions at GlobespanVirate for triple-play technologies. Prior to his marketing career, Mr. Chan co-founded Mibridge Inc. and served as the vice president of engineering, a startup developer of voice over IP, digital conferencing, and unified IP communication systems. He started his career as a DSP algorithm engineer at AT&T. Mr. Chan holds an M.S.E.E. from Polytechnic University and a B.S.E.E. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.

Derek Cheung Architect, Technology Strategy Office TELUS

Mr. Cheung focuses on large-scale IP and wireless network design, strategy, and development at TELUS' Technology Strategy Office, the largest telecommunication service provider in western Canada. Before joining TELUS, Mr. Cheung worked for HSBC in Hong Kong and Bell-Northern Research and Nortel in Canada for advanced telecommunication system design, development, and management. He holds several patents in IP and ATM and writes frequently for technical publications such as the IEC. He holds an M.B.A. and a B.Sc. from Canada and the United Kingdom, respectively.

Matthias Falkner Technical Marketing Architect Cisco Systems

Dr. Falkner focuses on service provider architectures, particularly next-generation broadband architectures. He works on the evolution of Cisco's midrange router portfolio, specializing on technologies that are particularly relevant for service providers, including high availability, broadband, or quality of service. Previously, Dr. Falkner held several positions in product management and served as a product line manager for the Cisco 10000 Series Routers. From 2000 to 2005 he was a consulting systems engineer in the Deutsche Telekom Account Team with Cisco Systems Germany, where he focused on the introduction of networking technologies such as L3VPN, L2VPNs, traffic engineering, IP multicast, or IPv6.

Raanan Gewirtzman Chief Executive Officer Broadlight

Mr. Gewirtzman brings more than 20 years of management experience in semiconductor and software development and operations. Under his leadership, BroadLight delivered the industry's first E2E GPON solution establishing BroadLight as a clear market leader. Previously, Mr. Gewirtzman was BroadLight's chief operating officer, where he managed BroadLight's strategic suppliers and successfully ramped up the production lines of its silicon and transceiver products for high volume. Prior to BroadLight, he held key management positions with Virata Corporation and IBM Research and Development.

Albert Ju General Manager, Wuxi Branch Office ZyXEL Communications

Dr. Ju started at ZyXEL in 1998 as a senior engineer and was named senior manager of the R&D division in 2002 and senior vice president of DSL/VoIP in 2007. He has very extensive experience in personal communications networks, wireless/mobile communication networks, wireless LANs, wireless ATM, multiple access schemes, architecture design, network management, and performance analysis of communication networks.

Dawn Xie Director, Network Architecture ZTE USA

Ms. Xie has extensive industry experience in multiple telecommunication areas, including multimedia services (IPTV, VAS), data networking (IP, Ethernet, MPLS), optical, ATM, and network management in the functions of technical marketing, system engineering, and software development. Prior to ZTE, Ms. Xie was principal system engineer and technical marketing manager at Xebeo Communication Inc. and lead senior system engineer and software developer in Lucent and AT&T. Ms. Xie holds a master's in computer and information science from New Jersey Institute of Technologies, U.S.A., and a bachelor's in computer science and engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University.